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Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 11/30/16: Not Perfect Enough
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 11/30/16)
Not Perfect Enough
– Raw and SmackDown Live went back to the States, but NXT stood North Of The Border, as the action took place in Ottawa for the hour. Anyways, the NXT Women’s Champion Asuka-Nicole Matthews match was another formulaic squash to remind us that nobody can stand up to the Champ. Matthews had some regional notoriety from Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling amongst other places, but flaunted nothing more than a fierce forearm or two. In terms of character, Asuka remained in the grey area, with her gestures pointed towards overconfidence more than crowd-pandering. We got a kick out of the part where she kicked Matthews, who keeled over before a big one could be delivered. An Asuka Lock later and Matthews was history. The overconfidence contemned as she posed directly over Matthews and “kicked the dirt.” Now, that’s hardcore.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 11/9/16: Mighty Penmanship
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 11/9/16)
Mighty Penmanship
– The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament Semifinal match between #DIY and The Authors Of Pain already had a different feel since it came from the Palladium Arena in California. The live event environments certainly help the matches feel more special. That said, this was easily AOP’s best effort to date thanks to the energetic fight brought by #DIY. It wasn’t all the faces though, as there was a cool spot where AOP caught Johnny Gargano on a suicide dive attempt and then bombarded him at Tommaso Ciampa when he tried to do the same. We also saw Paul Ellering get physically involved again as he bashed Gargano’s head into the apron. Another highlight was where Gargano countered a powerslam into a DDT, which led to the hot tag to Ciampa. Easily the best moment was Ciampa’s German Suplex on Razar, a feat in of itself. Razar battled back with a double fallaway slam for a near-fall. The faces had one of their own as they countered the double powerbomb into huracanranas. The finish was key and made sense, since we saw #DIY have the match won only to deal with Ellering on the apron and also set up NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival’s interference to cost them the match directly. AOP kept their undefeated strike alive and advance to the finals.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 11/2/16: Bruised And Scarred
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 11/2/16)
Bruised And Scarred
– To our delight (on the surface), this episode completely revolved around the Quarterfinal Round of the Second Annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament. For a nice touch, three of these four matches came from a live San Jose event for a unique experience. The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament Quarterfinal match between Austin Aries/Roderick Strong and TM61 took a sucky situation with Aries’ broken eye bone injury (as he revealed in a promo where he took off sunglasses to reveal it while in street clothes and managed to get heat on himself as he unconvincingly tried to get over how bad he wanted to compete) and with NXT General Manager William Regal’s help, turned it into a Strong-Shane Thorne match to determine which team would advance. There was a good dynamic between the two, as Strong used speed and strength to dominate early on. Sick spot where he dropped Thorne in the corner from the top rope, a la WWE Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte and Sasha Banks at SummerSlam. Back and forth stuff, as Thorne hit a double foot stomp in the corner like Alberto Del Rio, which spawned “Si!” chants. Strong laid into Thorne with a swift array of maneuvers, but it only led to a near-fall. Strong also kicked out of the Falcon Arrow. The finish was well-done, as we saw Aries’ attempt to distract the Referee fail to get Strong the win, as Strong got rolled up in a quick pin shortly after to eliminate him/Aries from the tourney. This decision made sense, since we got to see Strong do his thing in the ring (will always be the best thing to do with him, still haven’t even gotten a promo yet) and TM61 has more to gain out of the Dusty Classic than Aries/Strong at this point.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 10/19/16: Champion’s Address
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 10/19/16)
Champion’s Address
– The opening video reminded us of the huge brawl to end last week’s show when NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura returned to cast vengeance upon Samoa Joe, who purposely sidelined him in an attempt to get back the NXT Championship. To the point where he annihilated various talent in demand of either Nakamura or the Title from NXT General Manager William Regal, Joe had this coming to him. A smart way to drag out television time.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 10/12/16: Joe Gets What He Wants
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at then bottom of the post.
(Aired 10/12/16)
Joe Gets What He Wants
– Another week of NXT TV was here and the good thing was that we’d finally get Sanity’s long-awaited debut and the first match of “The Glorious 10” pair of Tye Dillinger/Bobby Roode. It’d also happen under the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament First Round. This was a smart way to blend programs. Needless to say, Sanity’s entrance was unique, yet left us unsettled. This was reliant upon flashlights in the dark, smoke, brick walls and heavy metal music as four denim-jacket clad figures stood with masks. Two of them were revealed as Alexander Wolfe/Sawyer Fulton. It had been a while since we seen them, so we were all for this. They were big in stature and powerful, so smart idea. A man and woman remained masked outside for the match. The duo worked over Dillinger extensively as they mauled him to no limit. Roode watched from afar and wanted no part of them, to the point where he teased a step-in, but walked away, as Dillinger reached out for help. It became apparent that Roode had no interest in a team with Dillinger and was only concerned about himself. Then again, at the same time, we wouldn’t to step in against those guys either. Their finisher was like a Magic Killer variation as they turned Dillinger over for a powerslam to get the win. The reveals of Eric Young/Nikki Glenncross as the last two members was well-done, especially on EY’s part. The crowd let loose a “Holy shit!” chant and rightfully so. We’ll see what promos they give us to establish who they are, but so far, this was a hot debut. Their entrance and look almost rivals The Wyatt Family.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 10/14/15: Here To Be A Champion
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 10/14/15)
Here To Be A Champion
– The opening video was your classic “slow-mo highlight reel” of NXT TakeOver: Respect, showcasing NXT Champion Finn Balor/Samoa Joe winning the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament and the impeccable 30-minute Iron Man match between Sasha Banks and NXT Women’s Champion Bayley. If you haven’t seen this show yet, do yourself a favor: watch it.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 9/9/15: The Dusty Wars Continue
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 9/9/15)
The Dusty Wars Continue
– Certainly didn’t expect Carmella to open the show, and the crowd also seemed to be caught off-guard. Her theme music is still a clear ripoff of Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy.” She served as an opponent for the debuting Peyton Royce, who had an elegant look yet flashed off some flashy skills, as commentary put over the fact that she was an Australian newcomer at the Performance Center. This was actually a decent match, believe it or not, Carmella had one of her better performances, aside from the cutesy moonwalking. Royce more than held her own down. Can’t help but feel this got more time than necessary, but that submission finisher made up for it. Carmella actually looked like a threat here.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 8/19/15: No Sleep ‘Till Brooklyn
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 8/19/15)
No Sleep ‘Till Brooklyn
– The opening video focused on last week when NXT Champion Finn Balor soundly defeated Marcus Louis, only to be ambushed from behind by Kevin Owens, who got the last laugh with a Pop-Up Powerbomb despite some fight from Balor. Bayley defeating Becky Lynch for the right to face NXT Women’s Champion Sasha Banks at TakeOver: Brooklyn was also featured.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 7/22/15: Reign Of The Demon
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 7/22/15)
Reign Of The Demon
– The opening video highlighted NXT Champion Finn Balor pulling off his biggest accomplishment to date and it was proclaimed the “Reign Of The Demon.” Rightfully so. Balor leads NXT as it is somewhere between an era of new blood and main roster call-ups. It’s a perfect balance.
Notes In Observance – WWE NXT 7/15/15: Ladies Show How It’s Done
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.
(Aired 7/15/15)
Ladies Show How It’s Done
– For what it’s worth, this episode of NXT had its share of new blood, old faces and a sense that a “new era” was indeed upon us. We had a little bit of everything here and maybe it’s an awesome thing that the NXT Divas can main event a show and it doesn’t feel like “big news” but rather the norm. The rematch between NXT Divas Champion Sasha Banks and Charlotte had a big amount of hype the week before when the challenger agreed to team up with the Champion to fight Emma/Dana Brooke for the favor of a Title match. The other half of the hype came in the fact that everybody pretty knew this would be quality from the bouts we’ve seen before and the timing couldn’t be better what with the Divas segment from Raw. Not to mention with the main roster transition, this was probably the last time we’d see a one-on-one match between these two on NXT.
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